San Jose State football: Five takeaways from moral victory over 20th-ranked Ducks

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EUGENE, Ore — When the talent and depth of 20th-ranked Oregon crashed into the youth and inexperience of San Jose State, the 35-22 loss for the Spartans was no surprise — except it wasn’t the pushover game the Ducks were expecting.

The Spartans came out energized with a physicality that surprised the Ducks and the 50,049 in attendance at Autzen Stadium. It was a Ducks team probably looking at the game as the last dress rehearsal before it starts Pac-12 play next week.

If anything, it probably leaves more questions for the Ducks, as they kept most of their starters playing into the fourth quarter, when they were expecting to get the second and third stringers in. And though Oregon QB Justin Herbert threw for three touchdowns, two of them on broken coverages, the Spartans intercepted Herbert twice and made his 16-for-34 and 309 yards day look relatively pedestrian.

A 13-point win for the Ducks just wasn’t the blowout they and their crowd was expecting.

For the Spartans, it was about good defense and rotating quarterbacks. Spartan QB Josh Love was the surprising starter over Montel Aaron. Love played well enough to play most of the second half, going 15-of-31 for 238 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions for the game.

“I thought Josh Love played well. He and Montel (Aaron) played well at times and that’s what we were going with.” said Spartans head coach Brent Brennan. “Josh did a great job standing in there in the wash against a bunch of big, fast athletic bodies flying around and delivering the football really well at times. I’m encouraged.”

The idea for two QBs was less on individual assessment and more based on the scheme from first-year offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven according to Brennan.

“One of the challenges coming into this week was the trouble we had with the defensive front at Washington State and we’re thinking Oregon’s defensive front was even better, so I thought coach McGiven did a good job moving the quarterback, mixing in the screen game and the combination to prepare for two quarterbacks slowed them down at times and kept things difficult.”

The Spartans defense was impressive against the Ducks offense and that wasn’t much of a surprise considering how it played in the first two games. If not for coverage breakdowns, and an early interception, SJSU could have only been down 7-6, instead of 21-6 at halftime.

The key takeaways:

Linebackers Kyle Harmon and Jamaal Scott each had nine tackles followed closely by Ethan Aguayo and Jesse Osuna. The defensive line, anchored by Boogie Roberts and Bryson Bridges, held the Ducks’ run game in check (134 yards and no runs going for more than 9 yards).

The pressure and physicality forced a number of bad Herbert throws and more three-and-outs than anyone expected. At one point, the Spartans defense made the Ducks give up the ball on the Spartans’ own 22-yard line after the Ducks tried to go for it on fourth down.

“I’m excited about the progress of our football team, but we still got a ways to go.” said Brennan. “To come into a place like Autzen Stadium and to stand there toe-to-toe with Oregon and play the way we did – I’m excited.”

For the second straight game, the Spartans did not lose the turnover battle, which is a big sign of improvement Brennan insists they’ll maintain.

Though each team gave up two turnovers, both on interceptions, the Spartans were also able to sustain drives and keep time of possession relatively even, which is a better sign.

In fact, there were a couple more Spartans interception opportunities. But the coulda-woulda-shoulda chances are only signs of an opportunistic defense, yet another good sign.

Without Tyler Nevens and DeJon Packer, the Spartans were light at the running back position with only Malik Roberson and freshman Brendan Manigo leading the way.

While only mustering 29 yards on the ground, the running attempts were just enough of a counter in the bigger offensive picture in McGiven’s plans.

McGiven will surely look to open the run game up somehow and when that happens, more good things should happen. At the very least, continuing to sustain more drives for longer periods.

Josh Oliver and Bailey Gaither are the men. Gaither’s six catches for 90 yards continue to prove he has star potential going up against anyone.

In Oliver’s case, the Ducks defense was clearly keying in on him, often having a linebacker spying him and limiting shovel passes for short gains. Oliver ended the day with 41 yards on six receptions and a touchdown.

The big takeaway here is there were a few other likely touchdown catches with just a bit more accurate passes. Yet again, another coulda-woulda-shoulda, but all a continuing good sign.

A 96-yard kickoff return by receiver Thai Cottrell put the Spartans on the Ducks’ 4-yard line and put a nice shock into the Autzen crowd.

Bryson Bridges blocked field goal attempt also surprisingly garnered crowd groans. It all fed into the surprising showing by the Spartans.

Yet, special teams’ coverage was suspect where it wasn’t really before. It gave up too much field position on kickoff and punt returns.

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The Spartans have a bye week next week to regroup, recalibrate and rethink things before facing stiff conference play with back-to-back home games against a surprising Hawaii team and Colorado State. Hopefully, the like promise and potential from a “good loss” will carry over.

“We’re getting better. We’re fighting. We’re trying to rebuild this thing and we believe whole-heartedly that we can have an incredible program at San Jose State and you’re always looking for those moments and steps that push us in that direction.” said Brennan. “We know we got a long ways to go and how much work we have to do.”